Written Answers Tuesday 2 February 2010

Scottish Executive

Alcohol

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many off-licences in the Lothians region were found to have sold alcohol to people under 18 in 2008-09, broken down by local authority.

Kenny MacAskill: The available information is provided in the following table:

  Number of offences recorded by the police in the Lothians, in which a licensed person has sold alcohol to a person under 18, in 2008-09:

  

 
2008-09 


City of Edinburgh 
38 


East Lothian 
15 


Midlothian 
13 


West Lothian 
31 


Total 
97 



  Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services.

  Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many off-licences in the Lothians region had their licence suspended in each year since 2007, broken down by local authority.

Kenny MacAskill: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-30174 on 25 January 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

  Premises which could hold an off-sales licence under the 1976 Licensing (Scotland) Act are divided into the following categories: shops, supermarkets, garages (from which fuel and other items are sold), "other" and "unknown".

Central Heating

Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications it has received to the Energy Assistance Package.

Alex Neil: Callers to the Energy Assistance Package helpline do not make an application as such. Where appropriate, the local energy adviser takes them through an assessment to determine their eligibility for stages two, three, and four of the package.

  Up to the end of November, the helpline received enquiries from 30,981 households, with 47,716 people in 28,242 households taking up offers of help, including energy savings advice.

  Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to the Energy Assistance Package have been appealed after initially being rejected.

Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to the Energy Assistance Package have been successfully appealed after initially being rejected.

Alex Neil: Callers to the Energy Assistance Package helpline do not make an application as such. Where appropriate, the local Energy Saving Scotland adviser takes them through an assessment to determine whether they should be referred to stages two, three, and four of the package. On referral, their eligibility is then assessed by specialist advisors and responsibility for appeals passes to the different service providers.

  Stage 2:

  (a) EST Referral Process

  The EAP advisor makes a preliminary assessment of eligibility before referring callers, as appropriate, to the Pensions Service, Citizens Advice Direct, or to their energy supplier. If a caller insisted on being referred for a benefits check or a social tariff check, the EAP advisor would refer them, even if it appeared that they were not eligible.

  One person has complained to EST about social tariffs, but not about the referral process itself.

  (b) Individuals Referred to Stage 2 Service Suppliers

  The results of stage 2 referrals to the Pensions Service, Citizens Advice Direct, or energy suppliers, are only reported in summary statistics, not individual cases, due to data protection issues. Any appeals would be dealt with under the appeals process of the relevant organisation.

  Stage 3

  (a) EST Referral Process

  If callers appear to be eligible for stage 3, but not stage 4, they are referred directly to energy suppliers, who will determine their eligibility for stage 3 measures. When callers appear to be eligible for both stages 3 and 4, they are referred directly to stage 4 for an eligibility survey. If it is found that they are not eligible for stage 4, they are referred to energy suppliers, who will determine their eligibility for stage 3 measures.

  (b) Households Referred to Energy Suppliers for Stage 3 Measures

  Any appeal would be dealt with under the appeals process of the relevant energy supplier.

  Stage 4

  (a) EST Referral Process

  EST has had some complaints about not being referred to stage 4, but no formal appeals. In the case of such complaints, EST:

  undertakes a full investigation of the client’s status regarding stage 4 eligibility and if not referred due to a disputed energy rating, offers a reassessment;

  explains as clearly and sympathetically as possible why the household is not S4 eligible;

  explains that their details can be stored so that if eligibility conditions are changed in future they can be contacted;

  recommends that they should call again if there is a change to their circumstances or to their heating system;

  assesses what other assistance may be available to them via stages 1, 2 and 3 and re-offers this if it has not been taken up initially, and

  thanks the caller for their feedback, and lets them know that it will be recorded.

  (b) Households Referred to Managing Agent

  When households are referred to Scottish Gas, the managing agent for stage 4, they are offered an eligibility survey to assess both the eligibility of the household and the SAP rating of the dwelling. Of the households rejected following the eligibility survey, 599 have appealed. Of these, 529 have subsequently been accepted for stage 4 measures, for the following reasons:

  - proof of household eligibility not provided at survey, supplied at appeal = 427;

  - amendment to regulation meant that the dwelling, correctly assessed at the time of survey as ineligible, became eligible as being energy inefficient from 21 December = 69

  - dwelling became inefficient post-survey = 33; various reasons recorded here, but most commonly that a Gas Safe Registered Engineer confirmed in writing that the boiler had broken down or been condemned.

Constitution

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29821 by Bruce Crawford on 14 January 2010, whether the £40 million stated in the answer is derived from the Scottish Government budget.

Bruce Crawford: The £40 million reflects the contribution Scottish taxpayers make to the costs on a population share basis. Scotland is in surplus on current spending and is therefore in a stronger fiscal position than the UK in the most recent GERS reports. This suggests that Scottish taxpayers actually contribute more than their population share to this and other UK-wide services.

General Practitioners

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the First Minister’s statement that "Nicola Sturgeon has extended the opening hours of GP surgeries in Scotland" ( Official Report c. 23006), whether it will provide details of these extended opening hours and where they are in operation.

Nicola Sturgeon: GP practices in Scotland now offer a variety of extended hours to registered patients on their list. These include earlier appointment times, evening sessions, concurrent working patterns and occasional Saturday morning clinics.

  The following table details the number of GP practices which are providing extended opening hours in Scotland. Uptake position as at November 2009.

  

NHS Board 
Category 
 


 
1 
2 
3 
4 
Total 


Ayrshire and Arran 
47 
0 
12 
0 
59 


Borders 
11 
0 
12 
2 
25 


Dumfries and Galloway 
33 
0 
2 
0 
35 


Fife 
28 
0 
29 
0 
57 


Forth Valley 
50 
1 
6 
0 
57 


Greater Glasgow and Clyde 
186 
0 
84 
0 
270 


Grampian 
51 
1 
32 
0 
84 


Highland 
69 
1 
29 
3 
102 


Lanarkshire 
58 
1 
29 
10 
98 


Lothian 
79 
1 
45 
0 
125 


Orkney 
9 
0 
5 
0 
14 


Shetland 
4 
3 
0 
3 
10 


Tayside 
39 
0 
22 
8 
69 


Western Isles 
10 
0 
2 
0 
12 


Totals 
674 
8 
309 
26 
1,017 



  Notes:

  Category 1: The number of practices that have contractually signed-up to provide extended hours to their patient list.

  Category 2: The number of practices that have expressed a willingness to provide extended hours.

  Category 3: The number of practices that are not providing extended hours.

  Category 4: The number of practices that are currently undecided whether or not to provide extended hours.

Health

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how long the medical homepod pilot projects have been running (a) on the Isle of Bute, (b) on the Isle of Luing and (c) in Fife and when they will be evaluated.

Nicola Sturgeon: Medical homepod pilots have been running since March 2009 on the Isle of Bute, and since summer 2009 on the Isle of Luing. The pilot in Fife is due to commence in early February 2010. The Centre for Remote Health at the University of the Highlands and Islands aims to report its evaluation findings by April 2010.

  Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the medical homepod pilot projects (a) on the Isle of Bute, (b) on the Isle of Luing and (c) in Fife are expected to cost.

Nicola Sturgeon: Homepod units cost £1,100 each and community pod units £7,000 each.

  On the Isle of Bute, 15 homepods and one community pod are being provided at a total cost of £23,500. On the Isle of Luing, one homepod and one community pod are being provided at a total cost of £8,100. In Fife, no detailed breakdown is yet available but anticipated costs are £30,000.

  Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients are participating in the medical homepod pilot projects (a) on the Isle of Bute, (b) on the Isle of Luing and (c) in Fife.

Nicola Sturgeon: Fourteen patients are participating in the medical homepod pilot project on the Isle of Bute. One patient is participating on the Isle of Luing via a homepod. Twenty-one patients are participating in the Fife pilot.

  Additionally, a number of patients are able to access communal pods in each of those locations.

  Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what conditions the medical homepod pilot projects (a) on the Isle of Luing and (b) in Fife are being used to monitor.

Nicola Sturgeon: Homepods in use on the Isle of Luing and in Fife are used exclusively for monitoring Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder.

  A community pod is also available to patients on the Isle of Luing allowing them to monitor a wider range of long-term conditions including hypertension and heart disease.

  Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to roll out the use of medical homepods to patients with lung disease, heart disease or hypertension living in remote and rural areas.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is helping to support the use of medical homepods via the Telecare Development Programme’s Innovation Fund. The Centre for Remote Health at the University of the Highlands and Islands is evaluating the pilots and aims to report on its findings by March 2010. No decisions have yet been taken by the Scottish Government about future support for, or use of, medical homepods.

  Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to roll out the use of medical homepods to all patients with lung disease, heart disease or hypertension.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is helping to support the use of medical homepods via the Telecare Development Programme’s Innovation Fund. The Centre for Remote Health at the University of the Highlands and Islands is evaluating the pilots and aims to report on its findings by March 2010. No decisions have yet been taken by the Scottish Government about future support for, or use of, medical homepods.

Justice

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases involving domestic violence in (a) East Ayrshire and (b) South Ayrshire a custodial sentence of six months or less has been given in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Fergus Ewing: The available information is given in the following table.

  Persons Convicted for an Offence1 with a Domestic Aggravator2,3 who Received a Custodial Sentence of Six Months or Less, by Approximate Local Authority4, 2005-06 to 2007-08

  

Local Authority 
2005-06 
2006-07 
2007-08 


East Ayrshire 
31 
42 
44 


South Ayrshire 
37 
41 
47 


Total 
68 
83 
91 



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. The recording of aggravators has improved over time therefore caution is needed when comparing changes over time. 2005-06 is the first year where it has been considered that the use and recording of domestic abuse aggravator codes from the Scottish Government Court Proceedings Database has been of sufficient coverage to be used.

  3. The data recording codes for aggravators changed on 10 March 2008. The new codes will be reconciled against the existing codes when the 2008-09 data is available in March 2010.

  4. Incorporates an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas. Some sheriff courts will deal with cases from more than one local authority area.

  Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people caught by police with (a) knives and (b) other weapons in the Lothians region in (i) 2007-08 and (ii) 2008-09 represents (A) repeat and (B) first-time offenders, broken down by local authority area.

Fergus Ewing: Information on whether people caught by the police with knives/other weapons are repeat or first-time offenders is not held centrally.

Prison Service

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time equivalent social workers provide services in each prison.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Willie Pretswell, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The following table provides the numbers of full-time equivalent local authority social workers located in establishments across the prison estate.

  

Establishments 
Manager 
Social Worker 
Total Full-Time 
Equivalent 
Social Workers 


Aberdeen 
1 
2 
3 


Barlinnie 
3 
8 
11 


Cornton Vale 
1 
4 
5 


Dumfries 
0.5 
2.5 
3 


Edinburgh 
1.5 
7 
8.5 


Glenochil 
1 
7 
8 


Greenock 
1 
4 
5 


Inverness 
0.3 
1.5 
1.8 


Open Estate 
1 
6.5 
7.5 


Perth 
1 
7 
8 


Peterhead 
1 
7 
8 


Polmont 
2 
6 
8 


Shotts 
1 
6.5 
7.5 


Addiewell 
1 
4 
5 


Kilmarnock 
1 
3 
4

Suicide

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to prosecutors fiscal in relation to the evaluation or prosecution of cases in which it is suspected that someone has been assisted to commit suicide.

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what factors it would consider in evaluating whether to bring charges against someone suspected of assisting another person to commit suicide.

Frank Mulholland: Suicide has not, in modern times, been considered a criminal offence in Scotland and therefore, unlike in England and Wales, there is no criminal offence of assisted suicide. Any question of responsibility for causing the death of another could amount to homicide and would be investigated as such.

  A decision to prosecute would be taken by Crown Counsel on the facts and circumstances of the particular case and the Law Officers do not regard it as appropriate to prepare and publish detailed prosecution policy guidance in this area as the Director of Public Prosecutions has recently done in England and Wales.

  Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases have been prosecuted with a charge of culpable homicide against someone alleged to have assisted another person to commit suicide and how many resulted in convictions, in each year for which data are available.

Kenny MacAskill: The information requested is not held centrally.